What inspired you to get into teaching?: "I worked as a union carpenter before I became a teacher. I spent a number of years just building schools primarily. I remember one particular day I was working on Fife High School and it was crummy day outside. But school was still in session. I remember looking and I happened to glance in on one of the classrooms. I saw a teacher and her students and every one of those students was fully engaged. At that moment I had an epiphany: I am on the wrong side of the wall. From there, I remembered the teachers that inspired me, a lot from my vocational classes. Those classes I took made me realize that there’s more to life than being a chucklehead."

Name a rewarding moment from your career: "There are so many. My first year teaching I got to take kids on an elk study up near the Wynoochee. This last year, my students were given a task to build all the middle school signs. They did it and they built these amazing signs. I have students go into the military and hunt me down later and say, ‘Hey, Mr. Winn, how’s it going?’ or you see them in the community. It’s really about the relationships. When they have moments in their life that are huge, like weddings and new babies, and they want to share that, it’s like, ‘Oh, wow.’ It’s those moments like that are awesome. It’s been 16 great years."

What's your biggest challenge: "Getting them to believe me and follow through with their options. When you tell them all these things when they’re ready to graduate about what they can do with their life, sometimes it’s like confetti in the wind. My challenge is getting them to follow through and believe in themselves."

Finish this sentence, "I wish … :" "I wish there was more time in the day. That, and I just wish for my kids, in whatever they do, ultimate success. I wish them to realize their full potential.